The end of the financial year is one of those milestones that tends to creep up. But for SASS members still in the workforce, it’s also one of the best windows to take stock of your super and make sure you’re not leaving money on the table at tax time.
Here are some practical things worth considering before 30 June.
Making your contributions to SASS via salary sacrifice can save you tax and increase your take-home pay. Essentially, you can choose to pay 15% tax on your SASS contributions, instead of paying personal income tax which can be as high as 47%. As a SASS member, you can choose what percentage of your salary you want to contribute (between 1% and 9%) to your SASS scheme as compulsory personal contributions.
If you’re not already salary sacrificing, it’s worth understanding how it works within SASS. A great start is to try this handy calculator that shows you the effect of making contributions via salary sacrifice, after-tax or a combination of the two to help you decide if salary sacrifice is right for you.
It depends on your individual circumstances. You may receive more take-home pay if you make your contributions via salary sacrifice. However, this depends on your level of income so you should seek professional financial advice to help you decide whether to make salary sacrifice contributions.
Here’s an example of how you could potentially save tax with salary sacrifice contributions vs after-tax contributions. This example compares the effect on net salary of salary sacrifice contributions for a member earning $95,000 per year. The example assumes the member is contributing 6% of salary and is not eligible for the Commonwealth Government co-contribution.
| After-tax contributions | |
|---|---|
| Gross-salary | $95,000 |
| Less income tax1 | $19,288 |
| Net salary | $75,712 |
| Less superannuation to contributions | $5,700 |
| Net salary (after tax and super deductions) | $70,012 |
| Salary sacrifice contributions | |
|---|---|
| Gross-salary | $95,000 |
| Less salary sacrifice contributions ($5,700 / 0.85) | $6,705 |
| Adjusted gross salary | $88,295 |
| Less income tax1 | $17,276 |
| Net salary (after super and tax deductions) | $71,019 |
1 Excluding Medicare Levy
Assumptions: The PAYG tax scale used in the example above is for the financial year commencing on 1 July 2025. Future changes to PAYG tax scales will result in different income tax and net salary outcomes.
In this example, making salary sacrifice contributions resulted in a $1,007 increase in annual after-tax salary. In both scenarios, the amount of net contributions credited to SASS is the same.
To learn more about salary sacrificing go to SASS Fact Sheet 17: Salary sacrifice your personal contributions to SASS.
The annual cap for before-tax (concessional) contributions is $30,000 for everyone. This increases to $32,500 for the 2026/27 financial year. This includes your salary sacrifice contributions, a notional amount for your employer’s contributions to SASS, and any other before-tax contributions you make to another super fund.
If you have room under your cap, topping up your super by making additional before tax contributions to another super fund before 30 June could reduce the tax you pay this year while boosting your retirement savings at the same time.
Most SASS members receive favourable treatment for before-tax contributions reported to the ATO. If you have contribution cap protection and SASS is your only fund, you will not exceed the before-tax contributions cap, because SASS will only report contributions up to the cap.
It’s a good idea to check you have this special cap protection before changing your SASS contribution rate, because moving to a higher benefit category may affect your contribution cap protection. You may permanently lose your contribution cap protection if you have moved to a higher benefit category than the one you held on 12 May 2009 or 5 September 2006. Your Benefit Category is determined by your personal contribution rate.
Even when the special conditions apply, if you’re making any additional concessional contributions to another fund, you should ensure total contributions across all your super accounts are within the cap.
If you haven’t used your full before-tax contributions cap in any of the past five financial years, you may be able to carry those unused amounts forward. This lets you contribute more than $30,000 in a single year, provided your Total Super Balance was below $500,000 as at 30 June 2025.
For contributing SASS members, your Total Super Balance isn’t your contribution account balance. It reflects the value of your total superannuation interests, including the defined benefit component, generally assessed as the maximum lump sum you would have been entitled to if you had ceased employment at 30 June. This is shown as your withdrawal value on your annual statement.
Once you’ve reached 30 years of scheme membership and 180 benefit points, your employer notional contributions reduce to 1.2% of your salary. This may leave more room under your before-tax contributions cap for additional contributions to another super fund at the concessional tax rate. Your employer benefit continues to increase in line with salary rises, and your SANCS benefit continues to accrue, so there’s still value in making the most of your cap space.
While you can’t make additional lump-sum contributions to SASS, you could add more to your super by making after-tax contributions to another super fund, up to the relevant cap.
The cap for after-tax (non-concessional) contributions is $120,000 per year. This increases to $130,000 for the 2026/27 financial year. If you’re not making your contributions to SASS via salary sacrifice, your personal contributions will count towards this after-tax cap.
If you’re aged 74 or younger on 1 July, you may be able to bring forward up to three years of after-tax contributions (up to $360,000 over three years) provided your total super balance was less than $1.76 million as at 30 June 2025. This amount increases to $390,000 for the 2026/27 financial year.
You could also consider making a one-off tax-deductible contribution to another super fund. These contributions will count towards the before-tax (concessional) contribution cap.
If you’re making any additional contributions to another fund, it’s important to the know the contribution limits and that if you exceed these caps you may need to pay extra tax. For more information on contribution caps and SASS.
These rules can be complex, particularly within a defined benefit scheme like SASS. If you’re thinking about making additional contributions or changing your salary sacrifice arrangements, it’s a good idea to speak with an Aware Super financial planner first. They understand your State Super scheme inside and out and can help you understand what options make sense for your situation.
Your first appointment is free of cost or obligation. Book at aware.com.au/statesuperadvice or call 1800 841 633.
Before contributing, consider the relevant superannuation thresholds including the current annual limit for all before-tax contributions and after-tax contributions. Exceeding any of these thresholds may reduce any tax benefits you could receive. For further information see contribution caps and SASS.
General advice only. Consider your objectives, financial situation or needs, which have not been accounted for in this information and read the relevant PDS and TMD before deciding to acquire, or continue to hold, any financial product. Advice provided by Aware Financial Services Australia Limited (ABN 86 003 742 756, AFSL 238430), wholly owned by Aware Super. You should read the Financial Services Guide, before deciding about our financial planning services. Issued by Aware Super Pty Ltd (ABN 11 118 202 672, AFSL 293340), trustee of Aware Super (ABN 53 226 460 365).
